so i’ve only got 1 job offer, from a sketchy sounding places in chiayi, which from what i’ve read is pretty sketchy as it is.
So, my question:
Is it a good idea/rational idea to take said job, solely with the intent of providing at least a bit of funding as I search for a new job elsewhere?
I think this would depend on the kind of contract you sign with them. There are usually penalties and consequences in breaking contracts. So as long as you are (1) well aware what these are and (2) have a clear understanding on whether you can handle them – then whether you want to stay or go is your business. In short, it’s not necessarily a bad idea, so long as you know the risks and it all moves you towards your goals.
I got lucky. I broke my second work contract in Taiwan. I was teaching for Hess Language School at that time. I had just renewed it for a year, and decided 2 months in to go home to Manila. I had a great relationship with my direct boss, who had a great relationship with his area bosses. They didn’t hassle me at all. In fact, 18 months later, I returned to Taiwan, and actually went up for a new non-teaching position at the HQ in Taipei. The fact I broke contract never came up.
and then teachers ask why are there shitty contracts and deposits???
It’s illegal for an employer to fine you for breaking a contract, even if it’s in the contract (that you signed). It does depend upon the degree to which the CLA will help you and how much you’re willing to call your employer’s bluff every time he/she tries to bully you. It took me five months, and several trips to the local CLA office, but I eventually fought Hess to a standstill over this and they dropped it (the CLA had previously made them return my “fine” money and they were trying to get me to give it back to them).
Back in September of 2004 I took a job with the intention of quitting. I’m still at that job. Be careful out there. 
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Chicken and the egg really.
With all the warnings and red flags that have been waved in your face, you can be assured that Evangeline is already one step ahead of you. You will be hired with the intention of firing/cheating/scamming you before the ink is dry on your precious contract. 
Indeed. One has to wonder what sort of employer would hire an employee who had broken a contract unless the previous employer was well known to be a scoundrel or there was some other way to prove that the employee was justified in leaving. I found this out when I left Hess and ended up at Dewey, yet I was determined to see a contract out so I could break the cycle once and for all.
I applied for several jobs this year and ended up taking a position through one of the county governments, whom I had contacted directly (and if I hadn’t been offered this job, I would have left Taiwan). A few months later, after I’d already signed that contract, I was contacted for a job abroad I’d applied for at the same time (but had heard nothing about since). I could have done a runner without even starting my contract here, but had no intention of doing so, and explained my situation to the employer and that I would probably contact them in 2011 about job openings for that academic year. I don’t know whether I would have got that other job or not (it had a much better package than any job I’ve ever seen in Taiwan, and when I applied for a whole lot of jobs earlier this year, was near the top of my list), and I don’t know if things will remain peachy in my current position, but the people I have dealt with over the past few months and have been dealing with at my two schools this past week have dealt with me in good faith from the beginning onwards (it doesn’t hurt that I’m also in one of the most beautiful parts of rural Taiwan, I suspect). I have absolutely no qualms at all about burning those fuckers at Hess or Dewey, but good employers are incredibly rare in Taiwan, and we need to nurture them, not force them to cross over to the Dark Side.
FYI, if you break your first contract, and your boss decides to blacklist you, you won’t be able to get a visa ANYWHERE else for at least a year. I know this because a couple of years ago I tried to get a visa for a teacher who had been blacklisted by an unscrupulous former employer. I was unsuccessful and had to let the teacher go.
[quote]so I’ve only got 1 job offer, from a sketchy sounding places in Jiayi, which from what I’ve read is pretty sketchy as it is.
So, my question:
Is it a good idea/rational idea to take said job, solely with the intent of providing at least a bit of funding as I search for a new job elsewhere?[/quote]
Wouldn’t one have to be sketchy himself to pull this move? I always consider the source, a sketchy person calling a school sketchy wouldn’t mean much.
Maoman: What is this blacklist if not the stuff of urban legend? I’ve heard of this so-called blacklist many times, yet you’re the first person I’ve ever encountered who has actually claimed to have had direct experience with it.
I managed to get a visa after leaving Hess under extremely unfriendly circumstances. I know plenty of other people who also left Hess and other jobs (working for large chain buxibans, major employment agencies or the government) under bad circumstances, yet they still managed to get visas. I knew one guy who was actually battling both Dewey and a government school in court. I don’t know if there’s a greater candidate for being blacklisted, and yet he got another visa. I have never met a teacher who has been denied a job because of this so-called blacklist, which of course, does not logically exclude the possibility that such a blacklist does indeed exist.
On the other hand, I believe (but could be incorrect) that not signing a document terminating a contract (i.e. doing a runner) would deny one’s chances of getting another visa because the employer has to submit paperwork about why an ARC is to be cancelled. Is that the blacklist you’re talking about? It goes beyond your common, garden-variety broken contract though.
Employers do not issue visas and have no power over such decisions.
Employers do not issue visas and have no power over such decisions.[/quote]
No, but if they have guanxi with people who do then they can influence the decisions.
BigJohn: Perhaps. Does anyone actually have any proof that this blacklist exists though?
Maoman just posted his direct experience. He’s like… dude! the guy’s practically a deity. He even drives a Volkswagen! How much more do you NEED?
Sure, the teachers don’t get to see any such list, and neither do the buxiban owners. But it exists nonetheless. Take care who you piss off out there.
Interesting that this blacklist exists. Is this at the Bureau of Employment (the office that issues work permits)?
So Maoman, I"m curious…were you able to confirm with someone that the whole blacklist thing only goes on for a year? I broke a contract many years ago (about 6) and never did pay Hess back part of the loan they gave me because they kept shorting my pay…real fuckers they are (maybe a balance of 10k or so on the books, but I ended up loosing money… 'course will never prove it…).
If I ever do decide to apply for a work permit again, could it come back to bite me in the arse?
suiyuan: I doubt anything could, or would, happen to you. I ended up battling Hess (and winning) through the CLA. I wasn’t blacklisted.
When a teacher leaves a job they and the bushiban manager have to sign a letter confirming that both parties are happy with the situation and that the teacher and bushiban have no greviances against each other.
If the teacher leaves without signing the bushiban has to write a letter explaining why and they write a negative letter they have to prove it.
Now in this wonderful age of computers this letter creates a flag against the teacher thus highlighting that person or " blacklisting" him or her.
This also works the other way round that the teacher can also write a letter against the bushiban thus flagging the bushiban so that they may not be able to hire any foreign teachers in the future.
In both parties cases you will be informed if such nasty letter has been written.
So…
a. sign that letter
b. keep your address details up to date with the visa office.
Employers do not issue visas and have no power over such decisions.[/quote]
No, but if they have guanxi with people who do then they can influence the decisions.[/quote]
Satellite TV is talking out of his bum. The teacher I was trying to employ was employed legally by the Hsinchu International School. He broke his contract (walked away from the job, basically), and the employer was able to blacklist him with the CLA. When we tried submitting his documents for a working visa through our school, the CLA told us that there was no way they would give him a visa until his former boss had rescinded his complaint. This was three years ago, I think.
I always thought that the rule was that if you didn’t turn up for three days without letting the school know then you could be blacklisted. If you gave them a dated letter on the day you were quitting, then you were safe.